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Deciding on your next fly line can be a complicated and daunting process. Lines can be labeled as WF5F, 200gr, coldwater, tropical, aggressive, presentation tapered, floating, sinking, overweighted, freshwater, or saltwater, and that's just a few. It's confusing. In my opinion, it is actually the most confusing aspect of gear-related fly fishing information. Additionally, just because you have, say, a 5wt rod, that doesn't mean any WF5F fly line will match up well with your rod or fishing situation(s). Unfortunately, there is not one fly line that will do everything perfectly. So, how do we make good decisions on fly lines without buying 10 of them and personally testing them all out on the water before we purchase?

This is #1 in a multiple part series. In this article I will cover the main ideas behind fly line design and its intended application.

How Do We "Match" a Fly Line?

Matching up a fly line to a fly rod is a combination of a few factors. The big questions you should be asking yourself are:

• What is the "action" of the fly rod that I want to use this line on? - fast/medium/slow/etc.
• What type of caster are you? Are you just learning to cast? Are you more experienced? Do you double haul? Need a line for better roll casting or maybe short casts with a dry fly?
• Where are you fishing? River, pond, ocean, from a boat, from shore?
• What flies are you fishing/what techniques do you want to accomplish? Are you looking for a dry fly specific line, do you want a line to help you cast streamers better, do you need a line to help you accurately cast shrimp flies to schools of tailing bonefish, do you want a line to quickly get you down in that spring hole on your favorite trout pond?

There are certainly a lot of factors to consider, but once you have established these above variables and situations, you have now essentially narrowed down your search considerably. You will find that there is absolutely a noticeable difference in how various lines behave, so additionally you will find that there is likely a good match for you and your fishing needs.

Comparing Tapers + Grain Weight

The single most significant factor that dictates most differences in fly lines and their application is their taper and grain weight. These, when applied in various ways, can change a dry fly line to a streamer line, or a nymphing/indicator line to a stillwater line. The questions/variables that are mentioned about can, for the most part, be answered with taper and weight. Here are some examples:

Premier Rio Gold

Click HERE for more info on Rio Gold

Rio Gold has been an "industry" standard fly line for quite sometime. For anglers looking for a fly line that matches up well with most freshwater fly rods, Rio Gold has a taper that helps it be a great "all-arounder" option. It has a longer head (47") which is fairly linear and shares an extended rear taper. This design allows Rio Gold to hold its shape and help you control the line more confidently during longer casts. The front taper is a good balance between a presentation minded line and one that will load quickly at short range. It's one of those lines that doesn't do anything perfectly, but does a lot of things well.

Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Creek Trout

Click HERE for more info on the SA Amplitude Smooth Creek Trout

The Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Creek Trout is solely designed to throw dry flies in small rivers/creeks. You can see how the front taper is an extension of the belly which are both slowly progressing to a thinner diameter. This gives a great ability to "present" flies on the water without much disruption (spooking fish). Plus you will see that the overall head of this line is shorter than the Rio Gold. This allows the angler to load the line/rod at very short distances (how most casts are in small creeks). The downside is that the Creek Trout does not do well at casting longer distances accurately or handling heavier flies like weighted streamers or indicator rigs. 

Rio InTouch Big Nasty

Click HERE for more info on the Rio InTouch Big Nasty

Totally opposite to the SA Creek Trout, the Rio InTouch Big Nasty is designed to cast the largest and heaviest of streamers. You can clearly see that quite a bit of weight is pushed to the very front of the line. The front taper looks dramatically different than any dry fly or presentation specific line. The longer head length allows for control of longer casts, and the exaggerated front taper helps to carry and turnover those heavy articulated or bulky flies. The downside to the Big Nasty is that it would not be a great dry fly line. The reason for this is the aggressive front tape which would make it hard to delicately present a fly on the surface.

Grain Weight?

All of the above lines are weighted differently. At WF5F, the full head weight of Rio Gold WF5F is 208gr (not just the first 30'), Rio Big Nasty is 202gr, and the SA Creek Trout is 160gr. If you take this weight and shift/move it around in various ways along the head, you will see how application of weight in a fly line makes a big difference. You could have almost the same weight line (like the Rio Gold and Big Nasty) but when you apply the weight in different ways, it dramatically changes how the line behaves and casts! Additionally, this means that you could take one WF5F line and it would not cast well with your rod at all, but then another WF5F line would match up really well. So keep in mind those above "questions" before deciding on a line. 

The Difference(s) Between Freshwater and Saltwater Fly Lines

These characteristics explained above are applicable for both freshwater and saltwater fly lines. For instance, the taper of some freshwater and saltwater lines can be very similar as their intended techniques can require an almost identical approach. 

Airflo Bonefish

Click HERE for more info on the Airflo Bonefish

You can see that the taper/head for the Airflo Bonefish is almost identical to that of the Rio Gold. Being an all-around trout line, Rio Gold can be a good line for presenting dry flies. In very much a similar way, the Airflo Bonefish fly line is made to help you present flies to bonefish. The techniques to presenting a dry fly to a wary trout is essentially the same to that of leading a (school of) bonefish with your shrimp pattern. You want to be able to softly and accurately land that fly in the most natural way possible. A fly line which has its weight evenly distributed along the head allows for a softer/more natural presentation. This is not necessarily the case with a line like the Rio Big Nasty which is designed to throw streamers. 

Rio Coastal Quickshooter

Click HERE for more info on the Rio Coastal Quickshooter

On the other hand, a line like the Rio Coastal Quickshooter which is another saltwater line, is created with a very different idea in mind. Not only is the Coastal Quickshooter overweighted (more on that in the next article) but the head is shorter (than the Airflo Bonefish). This condenses the weight of the line/head to a smaller area which loads rods quicker and helps to carry large streamers into the wind. You can also see that the front taper is shorter. This design of the Coastal Quickshooter would not be recommenced as a sight-fishing/presentation line as it would not allow the angler to accurately and subtly get that fly to the fish. When accuracy and presentation is not needed, (such as blind casting off of beaches, ledges, or a boat) but you are tossing big flies into the wind, trying to eliminate false casting, and getting as much line out as possible with minimal effort, this is where a line like the Rio Coastal Quickshooter is advantageous. 

Now What?

Now that we have covered the basics of how lines are designed for various applications, we can start to figure out how these apply to our fishing. In the next article, I will detail how to take these variables and make them fit for you. As mentioned previously, not every WF5F line is going to match up well with your 5wt rod or you as an angler/caster. So with the next article I will also talk about how us as individual casters can make a difference in what line works well for you and your fly rod. 

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Written By: Josh Thelin / Photos By: Nate Wight

There are very tangible benefits to fishing flies on jig hooks. This has been something which has increased in popularity especially with the techniques of Euro and/or Czech nymphing really taking off in fly fishing. For the anglers who do a lot of nymphing or fish their leeches and streamers down along the bottom, here are the added values of fishing flies tied on jig hooks. The benefits are also not exclusive to freshwater nymphs and can be certainly translated to sculpin imitations or even clouser or crab patterns in saltwater.

1. Rides Hook Up

When fishing nymphs along the bottom, or dragging saltwater crab patterns along the sand, having your fly ride with the hook pointed up is clearly beneficial. This can be done with properly balanced/weighted eyes (or beads) on turned down eye or even straight-eyed hooks, but when weight is added to angled jig hooks, they will ride hook up and level and provide a much more stable position. This gives an assured drifting or "swimming" position along the bottom allowing you to not get hung up on the rocks, sand, grass of the water's floor. This also helps to keep your fly from tilting one way or the other and not scraping and dulling your hook point.

2. A Better Hook Set and Position

For the above mentioned reason, this also presents the ability for the fly to be set into the fish’s mouth in better way. Usually this means getting the fly set in the top or corner of the mouth. These spots in the mouth hold hooks much better and give you a better chance of not losing that fish. You also have better control when trying to turn the fish's head while fighting.

3. Better Feel of the Flies

This is especially true when nymping on a tight-line or euro system where you need to really feel the bottom of the river. When weight is added to jig hooks the eye of the fly is what is bumping along the bottom, instead of simply the hook shank or body of the fly. This gives the angler a better feel of if/when their flies are hitting the bottom which in turn gives you feedback on where in the water column you are.

4. Slotted Beads

Similar to #3, but when a slotted bead is used in tying a nymph on a jig hook, the center of gravity changes. This helps to angle the hook in a position similar to the nymph in the main image of this blog which gives an even better feel for where the flies are in the water column and if/when they are hitting the bottom on rocks, etc. 

5. Fighting Fish

We want all the advantages we can get when fighting fish, especially the big ones! When a fish has been hooked with a fly on a jig hook, the fly line (and leader/tippet) is essentially parallel to where the bend of the hook is. When this happens, the leverage that the fish has is reduced and can provide a much more certain hook set in the fish's mouth. This is especially true with our Landlocked Salmon here in Maine which usually go arial (at least once) during the fight. With all the head shakes and jumps, the jig hook can give the angler the advantage. When the hook is set properly, you will find the fly pops out a lot less.

6. Movement

Whether it's a straight eye, turned down, turned up, or jig style hook, all of these give the fly a particular movement or "swim" in the water. As fly anglers, we are always looking for interesting ways for our flies to appear or move in the water. Jig hooks are popular to tie on for streamer patterns as well. The angled eye gives the fly a very undulating movement when stripped. It's a very up-and-down appearance which can give the look of an injured or confused baitfish. It's also becoming one of the most popular ways to tie a sculpin pattern as it keeps the fly on the bottom, riding hook up, and "hopping along" when stripped.  

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If you have any questions please feel free to contact me: josh@allpointsflyfishing.com

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While most of our local fisheries here in Maine have either closed or slowed down for winter things are just heating up in upstate NY for lake run steelhead and brown trout. 

When: 

From late October through mid may steelhead and brown trout migrate from Lake Ontario into the tributaries that feed the lake. The infamous salmon run that occurs in September and goes through mid October is what attracts the first push of steelhead into the rivers. In October and November the steelhead are primarily in the rivers to feed, specifically on the eggs of the salmon that spawn in September and October. Brown trout are fall spawners so their motivation to move in to the rivers stems for the same reason as the salmon: spawning. However brown trout will gladly pick away at eggs and nymphs on their way up stream and can provide good opportunity throughout the winter months as many will hold in the rivers after they spawn as well. Steelhead will constantly enter river systems throughout the winter months often using bumps in water flow to move upstream. When they first enter they are dime bright silver fish that fight comparably to our landlocked salmon here in Maine. Expect long runs and jumps. Once the fish have been in the river for a while they tend to color up and become a little lethargic behaving more like your average resident rainbow trout. Steelhead will hold in rivers and feed all winter long. Late winter and early spring signals steelhead spawning time. At this point the fish in spawn will be mostly colored up and in skinny water sitting on or near their redds. It is always best to leave spawning fish alone but once steelhead finish their spawn, unlike salmon, they drop back into the lake and feed voraciously on their way out. This time of year is your best bet to catch steelhead while swinging flies or stripping large streamers. Early spring brown trout fishing can also be spectacular. 

Where: 

Most tributaries that feed into Lake Ontario will hold steelhead and or brown trout at some point in the year. The Salmon River located in Pulaski NY is a good place to start as it will reliably hold steelhead and brown trout throughout the winter no matter what the flows are. Many other smaller tributaries are flow dependent. Ideal flows for someone venturing out for the first time on the Salmon River would be 335cfs-750cfs. Above 1000cfs wading becomes difficult. The salmon river is very easy to navigate as many of the pools are named and easily accessed. The lower fly zone is a fly fishing only section of the river and almost always holds fish but is often crowded. Upper fly zone is the only other FFO water but is seasonal and closed for much of the winter so be sure to check the regulations. If the crowds are not your thing the Douglaston Salmon Run is a pay to fish section that includes the first 3 miles of river. The freshest fish are always caught here and in the winter crowds are very manageable as they have a cap on number of anglers per day. Full day and half day passes are available for purchase. The middle section of the salmon river is also good for finding solitude. Many of the sections near parking lots between Town pool and Pineville will have people fishing them but if you're willing to take a short walk away from the parking lots there is often plenty of space to be had. 

Gear:

Rod and line setup: For single handed rods 7wt and 8 wt in a 9ft to 10ft length paired with a floating line is recommended for fishing with an indicator. Shorter 2 handed rods (13' and under) paired with a skagit line system and a variety of balanced sink tips is recommended for swinging flies. Make sure your reel has a good drag and some solid stopping power.  2x tippet is recommended.

Techniques:

The two most effective ways of catching fish are fishing under an indicator and swinging flies. Bottom bouncing is also a popular technique though it is not one I would recommend as it is a good way to loose your whole fly box in a day and also results in many foul hooked fish due to the amount of weight required. Fishing flies under an indicator is by far the most productive way to catch the lake run fish on a fly rod. Egg patterns and nymphs dead drifted past steelhead are irresistible to them. Swinging flies, though usually not as productive, can still produce good numbers of fish. For those die hard swingers fall and spring are recommended times because the fish are usually more active and willing to move to grab a fly.

       Note: While nymphing, or fishing flies under an indicator, only one fly is allowed to be used at a time. No dropper rigs are allowed on the Salmon River or surrounding tributaries. Always check regulations before venturing out.

Flies:

In the fall it's all about the egg patterns. With salmon just finishing their spawn it is what the steelhead key in on the most. Egg patterns are deadly during the entire time steelhead are in the rivers but in the fall it's hard to throw anything else because they catch so many fish. Glo-bugs, blood dots, sucker spawn, and estaz egg patterns will all produce very well. During the winter months it's good to throw a variety of nymphs in with your egg patterns. Copper Johns, caddis larvae, and various stonefly patterns will all produce fish through the winter and spring months. Wooly buggers are a great versatile flies that can either be swung or fished under an indicator. Smaller buggers (size 10-12) work well in the dead of winter whereas the bigger flies (up to size 4) will produce more results in the spring and fall. If you want to catch fish on the bigger swung flies such as intruders, buggers, or zonkers, the spring is the time to do so.

Clothing:

Dress warm! Especially during the deep winter layer up and dress appropriately. Leave your cotton at home. It's no fun to hike through a couple feet of snow to your spot and have your sweat freeze up 15 minutes after you start fishing. Spikes on your wading boots are a must. Do not cross the river unless you know the right lane to take.

Useful Links:

https://www.fishsalmonriver.com/Regulations (Regulations)

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/37926.html (General info and river map)

https://www.douglastonsalmonrun.com/Home.aspx (Purchasing passes, lodging, reliable fishing report on website)

https://whitakers.com (local tackle shop and fishing lodge with reliable report on website)

http://www.h2oline.com/default.aspx?pg=si&op=365123 (water flow from the dam @ salmon river) Ideal flow for beginners is 335cfs-750cfs

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/uv/?site_no=04250200 (mid river water flow taken @ pineville on salmon river)

Photos + Words By: Joe Webster

Joe Webster is a local angler to Maine waters but also spends a lot of time in New York chasing fish around the Great Lake's waters late in the season. Joe is kind enough here to share his knowledge on this subject 

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For years, if I was trout fishing with multiple flies under a strike indicator, I used a Thingamabobber. Compared to other indicators they were more buoyant, visible, and sensitive. But they had their drawbacks. These important issues have been essentially all resolved with the advent of the Air-Lock Strike Indicators. Here are 3 ways they are an improvement...

1. They Wont Slide Around

When attached to any part of the leader the Air-Locks will not slide around. This was an issue with other indicators. If they were attached, especially to the thinner sections of the leader, they would move around quite often after casting. With the screw-on system the Air-Locks have, you can attach them to any part of the leader without worry of it sliding all over the place. No more needing to tie knots on either end of the indicator to prevent sliding and thus weakening the leader!

2. No More Kinks

If you were fishing nymphs for a while and you wanted to change to dry flies, your leader had a very noticeable kink where the Thingamabobber was. Not only would this prevent your leader from laying out straight, but if you were changing placements of the indicator, you had multiple kinks. This rendered your leader basically useless. With the screw-top Air-Locks, your leader is attached with a straight placement over the top. This prevents your leader from becoming a zig-zagging slinky after nymphing. 

3. The 90° Connection Option

One really cool additional feature is the ability to also setup your Air-Lock and leader to create a 90° connection. This allows the indicator to sit top-down on the water and facilitate a straight downward placement of the leader. This can help get your flies deep quicker and straighter.

Check out this great video with Tim Rajeff explaining the benefits of the Air-Locks!

Words + Photos By: Josh Thelin

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At our last Maine Bar Fly held at Fore River Brewing, Shaun Baggitt brought us through three nymph patterns. Although these flies are uniquely effective during other times of the year, the winter is when these guys really get their shine! But why is that? Well, midges...During the winter when snow covers the ground and most of the still water is frozen over, insect life starts to slow down as well. The caddis and mayfly hatches that we see during the spring through fall are no longer - the air temperature has essentially halted their maturation process.  But don't fret, there is still life! Behold the midge! 

Even if you have never fished during the winter, you have probably seen a midge whether you knew it or not - especially along the tailwaters here in Maine. Further, you very well might have mistaken it for a mosquito. Midges are found in various arrays of sizes and types and are also high on a trout's grocery list. But, many anglers do not fish them. For some they are too small to tie or even knot on a leader (which is why we tied these on size 12s at the Maine Bar Fly)...for others they don't know how/where to fish them. It's possibly a combination of both. Well if you have never tied a small midge to the end of your leader, to extended tippet off of a dry fly, or at the end of a nymph rig, it's time to give it a try. 

As mentioned, we tied our nymphs at the Bar Fly on size 12s for ease of learning, but midges are seen generally in the 16-18 range with plenty in 22s and beyond. Although this is small, the good thing for the tyer is that there are not a lot of materials involved for most of these midges. For instance, the Zebra Midge (which we tied) is essentially a hook + a bead + thread + wire. That's it. Because many midge patterns are imitating the larval stage which are found along the bottom of the river, the Zebra Midge has found a place in most anglers pack for it's simplicity and effectiveness.  

For the reason that most midges are found along the bottom, and in slower moving sections, midge fishing in the winter tends to be done in slow drifts with the aid of an indicator. If you have ever seen a fish eat larval midges, they are usually sucking them off the bottom. So if you are not bumping your Zebra Midge off the rocks you are not in the strike zone. The river's currents usually funnel midges to these slower runs and holes so fish anxiously wait for the next midge delivery to arrive. If you are fishing in the winter look for these slower sections. 

I hope that helps! There is still plenty of fishing to be done in the winter and it can be just as enjoyable if you adjust your tactics a little to suit the season. Bundle up, grab a thermos, and try out some midge fishing! 

Words + Photo by: Josh Thelin 

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